The highest returner from last year’s meet is Virginia, who is bringing back the exact same quartet from their third place finish last year, highlighted by Margot Appleton, who finished fifth in the mile indoors. The other top contenders are Providence, whose foursome includes three runners from the Penn Relays winning 4x1500m team last year, including Kimberley May and Shannon Flockhart, and Washington, anchored by Chloe Foerster, who will be switching to the anchor after opening on the UW’s collegiate record-setting team back in February.

On the men’s side, we’ve got a battle royale between brand name schools, as four of the top contenders – Villanova (25), Michigan (8), Penn State (6), and Oregon (4) – have won a combined 43 Penn Relays DMR titles. The hometown Wildcats will be returning four of their three legs from last year’s runner-up relay, including Liam Murphy who doubled back to anchor their 4xmile win. The 400m leg for Villanova will be run by Oregon transfer Dan Watcke who might have a little extra motivation to stick it to his former team and fellow high school star Rheinhardt Harrison.

Penn State will look to lean on their middle legs with Handal Roban, the third place finisher at NCAA Outdoors last year, taking the 800m, and Cheickna Traore stepping up from the 200m (where he was runner-up at NCAA Indoors) to run the 400m leg. And if the Nittany Lions are close to the Wolverines entering the final leg, we should be in for a show as their anchor leg Evan Dorenkamp was separated from Michigan’s miler Nick Foster by just .05 seconds at the Big Ten Indoor Championships. If you are looking for one more team to watch, it’s Virginia, who will be anchored by CITIUS MAG’s own Gary Martin.

Elite Mile/1500m

The biggest name headed to Philadelphia this weekend is the American record holder in the mile, Yared Nuguse, but he won’t be traveling there alone. The Penn Relays have become an important meet for the On Athletics Club recently, and this year is no different. Nuguse is co-headlining the race with teammate Oliver Hoare, who is coming off a second place finish in the 1500m at the Australian National Championships earlier this month, his first competition back from an injury that prematurely ended his 2023 season.

Tasked with pacing Hoare and Nuguse is teammate Geordie Beamish, who will return after winning last year’s edition from the race. Beamish leading the race from the start will be an unusual sight for fans who are used to the patented come-from-behind racing style that he used to become a World Indoor Champion in Glasgow last month. Of note, Tony Waldrop’s meet record of 3:53.2 is about to celebrate its 50th birthday but will be on high alert as Nuguse has not run slower than 3:50 in a track mile since turning pro.

Other names to watch in the men’s mile (Saturday, 2:10 p.m.) are last year’s third place finisher Eric Holt, and former U.S. Indoor Champion Josh Thompson, fresh off a victory at the Wake Forest Invitational last week, his first race since leaving the Bowerman Track Club last month.

On the women’s side (Saturday, 2:03 p.m.), the 1500 is the name of the game, and the OAC theme continues as Sage Hurta-Klecker will open her season in earnest on the same track where her teammate Josette Andrews set the meet record last year (4:04.88). Hurta-Klecker is among a number of 800m specialists who are stepping up in distance this weekend, including last year’s U.S. champion Nia Akins and Jamaican record holder Natoya Goule.

In a race with no overwhelming favorite, other racers to watch include the only woman in the field with a sub-4:00 personal best in Nozomi Tanaka (that PB came three years ago but she is still only 24), and the top two finishers at this year’s Dr. Sander mile – Yolanda Ngarambe of the Atlanta Track Club and American Helen Schlachtenhaufen.

Elite 400m Races

Last year in the men’s 400m, Quincy Hall set a meet record (46.09) in his first year focusing heavily on the flat event as opposed to its hurdles counterpart, and ended that season with a World Championship bronze medal. This year’s edition (Saturday, 3:18 p.m.) has an impressive field that will be gunning for his record and trying to replicate the summer he put together in 2023.

Bryce Deadmon has both the fastest personal best and season best in the field (his 44.41 is the fourth fastest in the world this year), and will be looking to put himself in a position to defend his Olympic 4x400m gold from 2021. Among those aiming to take down Deadmon will be Jacory Patterson and Ryan Willie, both of whom ran legs on the University of Florida’s collegiate record setting 4x400m two years ago. Deadmon, Patterson, and Willie were all named to Team USA’s roster for next month’s World Relays Championships last week.

The women’s race (Saturday, 3:13 p.m.) features fewer heavy hitters but has the flavor of a USA vs Jamaica duel meet. The fastest personal best in the field belongs to American Chloe Abbott (50.98), but it’s from 2019 and her World Athletics profile only has two races since 2022. The highest returner from last year’s race is Jamaica’s Leah Anderson, a 10-time Big East Champion at St. John’s University who finished second in 2023. Others with notable credentials in the race include three-time NCAA Champion in the 4x400m for Texas A&M, Tierra Robinson-Jones, and four-time global 4x400m medalist for Jamaica, Roneisha McGregor.

Elite 800m Races

After winning the 600m at last year’s Penn Relays, Ajeé Wilson is back this year in her signature event (Saturday, 3:45 p.m). The 12-time U.S. champ will be the heavy favorite in her first 800m race of 2024, considering her biggest competition is likely the Atlanta Track Club’s Olivia Baker, whom Wilson holds a lifetime 18-1 head-to-head record against. Aside from Wilson and Baker, there are three more sub-2:00 women in the field in three-time Canadian champion Madeleine Kelly, 2018 NCAA Indoor Champion Sabrina Southerland, and 2018 Penn Relays mile champ Charlene Lipsey.